A Ghost Story
by Felira X Nyxa
Summary: He was a scientific person, in his mind ghosts were only fiction. Of course, that was before she showed up.


**a/n: ahhh, my second one-shot. I have finally managed to write a chapter that is over two thousand words! Yes!**

* * *

Cilan was a rational person, he didn't believe in ghosts, which meant that he must have been hallucinating. Ghosts didn't exist. And yet, there she was, nearly transparent and floating by his bedroom window, still scowling.

"Still trying to convince yourself I'm not real, huh?" Cilan didn't answer. If he just closed his eyes and went to sleep, this would all just go away.

"Well, I'm not going away until you admit to yourself that I'm actually here,"

Cilan sighed. There had to be some reasonable explanation for why he thought he was seeing his dead rival's ghost.

He'd found out about her death only a week ago. Right there on the front page of the newspaper had been a smiling photo of his rival, Burgundy. Only a few lines into the article, Cilan found out that she'd been found murdered in her bed the night before. Not a very happy ending. Two days ago, the ghost had shown up.

Cilan sat up, pushing the bed covers down a bit.

"Why are you here?" he asked her. He had a hard time trying to ignore the dark red stain on the front of her long white night gown. Burgundy noticed his unease at the blood.

"Yeah, apparently ghosts always appear in the clothes that they died in. It's kind of annoying, I really hated this nightgown," she took a moment to look down at her nightgown, before focusing on Cilan once more.

"I'm not completely sure why I'm here, but another ghost told me that sometimes a ghost gets bound to a certain person or object, and I guess I just ended up being bound to you," her tone said that she was very annoyed, and she glared at Cilan. "For your information, this is _not_ how I wanted to spend my afterlife," she continued to glare at him, as if this were his fault. After a moment though, her glare softened, and she asked Cilan a question, her voice soft, and her lilac eyes full of pain.

"Have they figured out who killed me yet?" Cilan wasn't sure if he should tell her. He didn't want to upset her, yet he felt that he should be honest.

"No, not yet," he said slowly. Burgundy looked away; Cilan could see her eyes begin to fill with tears. _Can ghosts really cry?_ Cilan wondered. _Is she even real?_ Real or not real, he felt bad for her. It wasn't fair that someone could take the life of another who was so young, with so much life and so many dreams. It was horrible.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. Burgundy nodded slowly to show that she had heard him. Moments later, she faded away, leaving Cilan to wonder if he had really seen her at all.

* * *

The next morning, Cilan woke up to sunlight streaming through his window. He sat up and stretched, and then got out of bed to get ready for the day. When he finished, and went down to the first floor of the gym, he found his brother, Chili and Cress, in the kitchen, whispering to each other. Cilan could tell right away that something was wrong.

"What is it?" his brothers, startled, turned to look at him. Then they looked at the floor. Chili spoke first.

"Another girl, about the same age as Burgundy was found dead this morning. They think it was the same killer," he looked up at Cilan, who was thinking about his ghost encounter last night.

"I'm sure they'll find the murderer soon," Cress said. Cilan nodded slowly. He wanted to scream at the fact that this person hadn't taken just one life, but two. His brothers noticed his anxiety.

"I'm going to go for a walk. I'll be back in a little bit," Chili and Cress glanced at each other with worry for their brother reflected in each other's eyes as Cilan left.

* * *

Cilan walked down to the park. It was his favorite place to go when he was feeling troubled or upset. This early in the morning it was almost empty, the only ones here being himself, a few Pidove, and the ghost standing by the fountain. He walked over to her.

"Hi Burgundy,"

She turned her head.

"Another girl was murdered last night," she stated. Cilan nodded. Burgundy turned her attention back to the fountain. She seemed really tired.

Without turning around again, Burgundy spoke.

"Her ghost is hanging around the city. You won't see her, but she's there. Lots of ghosts are here in Striaton City, but most of them are invisible to everyone except other ghosts," her voice was sullen. Cilan was a bit unnerved at the thought of many ghosts just wandering around the city. He shivered.

"At least you have plenty of people to talk to," Cilan said, quickly realizing how stupid that sounded. Talking to other dead people probably wasn't much of a comfort.

Burgundy moved away from the fountain. She turned so that she was facing her former rival.

"Some of the ones who actually talk tell some pretty interesting stories. There's this one old woman who died over two hundred years ago, who is a beautiful poet," she gave Cilan a small smile. Cilan smiled back.

"I should probably be getting back to the gym before Chili and Cress get more worried than they probably are," Cilan said. Burgundy waved and turned back to the fountain. Cilan walked to the edge of the park and glanced back at the fountain. Burgundy's ghost was gone.

* * *

Cress was making pancakes when Cilan got back to the gym. Chili wasn't there.

"Where's Chili?" Cilan asked. Cress flipped a pancake onto a plate he had next to him.

"He went out to get some doughnuts," was the quiet reply. Cilan walked over to the counter where this morning's newspaper sat. The large bolded heading read:

**Another Young Girl Found Dead**

Cilan skimmed the article, learning that the young girl's name was Alyssa Sanchez, and she was twelve years old, and an accomplished trainer. Cilan pushed the newspaper away. As he did, he felt an odd presence nearby. He looked to his right, and caught a glimpse of Burgundy as she frowned at him.

"Depressing, isn't it." She said, fading away right after.

"Yeah, it is," Cilan said quietly to himself. Cress gave him a funny look.

At that moment Chili walked in, a paper bag in one hand, a half-eaten doughnut in the other. Burgundy suddenly reappeared right next to Cilan.

"Chili is the one with the doughnut obsession, right?"

Startled, Cilan jumped, and turned to face her. He almost told her not to do that, but he realized that his brothers were staring at him. Their blue and red pairs of eyes filled with worry.

"Um, are you okay Cilan?" Chili spoke very slowly. Cilan felt his face turning red.

"Yeah, I, um, am perfectly fine. Just a bit jittery, you know," his brothers nodded in understanding. Burgundy started laughing, though Cilan was the only one who could hear her.

"You better not let them catch you talking to me, or they'll think you've gone crazy!" she laughed again.

The three brothers moved into the dining area to eat. Burgundy followed right behind Cilan. They were quiet at first, but soon Cress spoke up.

"I heard that Burgundy's funeral is going to be sometime this week," he didn't look up from his barely eaten breakfast. Cilan watched as Burgundy moved behind Cress.

"Hmm, It might be quite interesting to attend my own funeral," she said.

"Should we go?" Chili asked, directing his question at Cilan.

"It would be respectful if we did," Cilan replied. He watched Burgundy roll her eyes.

* * *

When Cilan entered his bedroom late that night, he found a crying ghost sitting cross-legged on his bed. Cilan noticed that as her tears fell, they disappeared, as if they had never been there at all. He walked over and sat down next to Burgundy.

"He's going to kill more people," she told Cilan. "I know he is," tears continued to trickle down her cheeks, and Cilan wished there was something he could say to comfort her, but he knew there wasn't.

"You have to stop him," she looked straight at Cilan. "You or one of your brothers could be his next victim," Cilan knew that she was right, but how could he stop the killer?

"I think I know who the murderer is," Burgundy said quietly."

* * *

"He'd just moved into the house across the street from us. He seemed to be really nice, and he was only a few years older than me I think," Cilan paid close attention to what his rival was saying.

"My parents invited him over for dinner. While we were eating, his phone rang, and he went into the kitchen to answer it. When I took my dishes into the kitchen, I overheard some of his conversation." Burgundy paused, taking time to remember the details. She took a shaky breath and continued.

"He told the person on the other end that 'the last one had gone quickly' and there was 'little evidence'. He also said that he 'had his next target chosen'."

Cilan spoke up.

"That could have meant something else, Burgundy," he told her. She nodded, but continued.

"I wasn't sure about it either, but I went to his house after I learned that Alyssa had been murdered. He has this book, with a list of names and death dates, and he hides a silver knife under his mattress. I could tell you a few other things, but I think you get the idea,"

Cilan nodded. "We need to get that book and that knife. The only problem is how to do that," Burgundy rolled her eyes.

"We break into the house and steal them, that's how, Einstein," Cilan sighed. Burgundy just scowled at him.

* * *

Two hours later Cilan found himself inside of a very nice, middle class home.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," he grumbled. Burgundy materialized next to him.

"Yeah, well I can't believe you wore that hat," she said, pointing to the detective's hat Cilan wore. Now it was Cilan's turn to roll his eyes.

"Besides," she continued. "Once we gather the evidence and hand it to the police, or you hand it to the police, this will all be over, and no one else will be killed by him. Happy ending!"

The killer's room was pretty simple. It contained only a bed, a bedside table, and a lamp. Cilan assumed that this person moved around a lot, probably so he didn't get caught.

It was easy to find the silver knife. Just like Burgundy had said, it was hidden under the mattress. Cilan held the weapon in his hand. It was long, with a really detailed handle. Cilan was so busy studying the knife that he didn't hear the person quietly entering the room behind him. Burgundy did though.

"Cilan behind you!" she shrieked. Cilan whirled around, just as the figure lunged at him. Cilan felt himself being knocked to the ground, the killer falling on top of him. Cilan held his breath and waited for the end. It took him a moment to realize that the person on top of him wasn't moving. Or breathing. Cilan then realized that he wasn't holding the knife anymore.

* * *

Next morning's newspaper headline read:

**A Killer Killed?**

Cilan didn't even bother reading the article today. He wanted to forget all that had happened last night.

When he went to the kitchen to make breakfast for his brothers and him, he found her sitting on the counter next to the stove.

"So, what are you going to do now?" he asked her. She shrugged.

"I might hang around a bit, but I'll probably explore the world or something like that," Cilan thought about what she'd just said, and something she'd said a few days ago.

"You said that you were bound to me, so wouldn't that mean you can only go where I go?" Burgundy sighed.

"I was lying," she said. "I'm not bound to anything. I just chose to stick around and see when they caught whoever killed me," she glanced around the kitchen nervously.

"I'm going to get going," she said.

"Well bye, I guess," Burgundy waved in reply, and then vanished.

Cilan picked up the breakfast bowls. As he did, a voice whispered in his ear.

"Reach S-class for me," she said.

"I will," Cilan promised. He took the food out to his brothers. When he set it on the table, Cress looked up at him and said:

"You've been talking to yourself a lot lately,"

Cilan was about to deny Cress's words, but at that moment he saw what appeared to be a ghost, standing against the back wall. A ghost that was not his rival.

* * *

**a/n: Well, that was interesting. I seem to like hurting my favorite character lately. Hmmmm...**


End file.
